A conventional glove is produced by blending PVC materials with plasticizers. When such glove is combusted, for example in the case of fire or being incinerated, the PVCs will be oxidized to generate corrosive gases and toxic gases such as dioxin, and the plasticizers will be oxidized to generate various contaminating substances. The corrosive gases are considered responsible for pulmonary edema when being inhaled and for serious damages of instruments in contact therewith. Dioxin and some of the contaminating substances might also cause the problems of environmental hormone and the like. In views of environmental protection, these conventional gloves have been eliminated through competition. Therefore, there is always a need to develop an improved glove so as to meet the requirement of environmental protection.
Although a glove made of natural rubber is known to be environmentally-friendly, the mechanical properties such as Young's modulus of the natural rubber glove are unsatisfactory. In addition, the natural rubber is disadvantageous to be a source of irritation such as skin itch, asthma and shock, etc.
JP 9-505612 (1997) described a glove manufactured by nitrile-rubber (NBR) latex. Although the NBR glove contains no known sources of irritation and has good resistance to chemical solvents, the commercial applications thereof are limited due to high manufacturing costs.
JP 55-163202 (1980) described a process for manufacturing a glove by using styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR). The SBR material is cost-effective. However, such glove has poor tensile stress and low tear strength, and the immersion molding effects of such glove are unsatisfactory.
JP 7-506642 (1995) described a process for manufacturing a glove by using thermoplastic butadiene-styrene-butadiene block polymers. Their commercial applications are limited due to the poor flexibility of such materials and complex processes for producing the gloves therefrom.